Canada is bruised but not broken
There are real pain points in our country that need healing. Perhaps the most pervasive is the post-pandemic affordability crisis, which hits us at the grocery store each week and is a non-stop source of grievance in conversations across this nation.
Our growing financial inequality, insufficient support system for immigration, housing crisis, crumbling healthcare system, homelessness and drug poisoning epidemic are all alarming.
Add to that the costly ravages of climate change and we have reasons to be less happy than we once were.
Many of these issues are shared by other countries. Some are created by global macro factors beyond our control, some are exacerbated by provincial policies and the blame for some falls at the feet of the current federal government of Justin Trudeau.
While these challenges are serious, in a recent study conducted by U.S. News & World Report, Canada was ranked as the second-best country in the world for 2023 based on the perceptions of 87 nations. We score high for racial equality, a place to get an education and to start a career. We are also among the top 25 richest countries in the world and according to the Global Peace Index, the 11th most peaceful.
So, despite all the challenges we face and the painful bruises from the pandemic, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s constant refrain that our country is “broken” is an overstatement more reminiscent of Trump’s “American carnage” language in his 2017 inaugural address than reality.
It’s easy to see Trump and Poilievre in the same sentence and panic or outright deny any similarities in style or substance. But we need to compare each man’s tactics and tenets.
This week, Poilievre was asked in the House of Commons by the Liberal government to denounce white supremacy and the endorsement of conspiracists like Alex Jones, who falsely claimed that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax. Instead of distancing himself, Poilievre decided to respond by calling Trudeau a “wacko” and getting kicked out of Parliament, only to send a fundraising email to the Conservative base minutes later with a victim narrative.
The wacko language, histrionics and victimization for funds could be a page out of Trump’s MAGA playbook. Poilievre’s unwillingness to denounce white supremacy and dangerous conspiracists was a choice that brought to mind the moment when Trump declined to denounce the Proud Boys in the first presidential debate in 2020.
But the similarities don’t stop there. Poilievre’s clever threeword bumper sticker slogans, “Axe the Tax” and “Jail not Bail” evoke Trump’s famous “Build the Wall” and “Drain the Swamp” propaganda. They are easy to remember and repeat and give people talking points. Based on the polls, they are working.
What do they mean? If we axe the unpopular carbon tax, how will Poilievre plan to mitigate climate change? Does he have a robust plan to protect our economy and environment?
The “Jail Not Bail” slogan refers to Poilievre’s promise to create what he calls “my laws” and brings to mind Trump’s “I alone can fix it” authoritarian positioning.
Poilievre says his tough new laws will be constitutional, but even if they are, will they be healing for Canada, or will they disproportionally punish marginalized communities and harm our country?
Anyone can identify issues, but real solutions are much harder to come by. Anyone can tear things down. How does Poilievre propose to build Canada up?
You don’t have to like Trudeau to have legitimate concerns about Poilievre’s plans for Canada. Pressing on our pain is not the same as providing the leadership needed to recover and rebuild.
It’s time for Canadians to look past our anger and clearly see where Poilievre is trying to take our country.